Eye of the Storm
by Naiad
Summary: Lixue is a young Doi woman with unusual powers, forced from her home in the Roof by cruel villagers. Rated PG-13 in case I go a little crazy one night.


****Many characters from this story belong to Tamora Pierce, as well as many locations and events. In no way am I claiming them as my own. However, some of these characters _do_ belong to me, Naiad, and if you take them, and I find out, you will be very, very, very sorry.****

Chapter One

Snow swirled around Lixue as she huddled on the back step of the small inn. She pulled her fur cloak tighter around her body and tried to hide behind the door frame. Suddenly the door opened, and Lixue fell inside. She stared up at the innkeeper and brushed some of the melting snow off of her darkly-complected face.

"Why don't you go stay in the barn, girl?" asked the elderly man. "My customers would not stay should you enter my inn, but they will not know if you warm yourself with the animals. In any event, the storm is bad enough, and you cannot worsen it tonight." Lixue stood and gave the innkeeper a shy smile, then turned and made her way slowly to the barn as he shut the door behind her.

Once inside, she breathed in deeply. The warm air, although scented of horses and cows, was comforting. Several medium-sized dogs ran eagerly to her and sniffed as Lixue shook off her cloak and then spread it on a bed of hay beside the door. The dogs lay down next to her as she struggled to pull off soaked boots and stockings. When the boots and socks lay drying, Lixue rolled over and wrapped herself in the somewhat moist cloak. As the water droplets dissolved on her face in the soft warmth, she tried to figure out what she needed to do next.

Born to an unwed woman during the worst storm ever seen in the Roof of the World, Lixue had never known either of her parents; her father was a mystery, and her mother had died after naming her Lixue: "beautiful snow" in the language of the Doi. She was raised for a time by her grandfather, who followed her mother to the home of the dead when Lixue was 11. After that, the troubled girl worked for her home, in inns and small shops, but she was always turned out within a year of being hired. By the time Lixue was 16, her reputation always preceded her; she couldn't get work because storms and bad weather followed her at each turn, and bad things tended to happen at the most inopportune times.

Now here she was: down to the bottom. Sleeping in the hay beside the smelly stalls. Not knowing where she would be staying tomorrow, or even if she would eat tomorrow. _This is not good,_ Lixue told herself. _I need to get out of this village. Out of the Roof, even. Away from this place of cold and bad memories._

She rubbed the ears of a wolf-dog gently as he nuzzled her hand. _Where can I go? I don't know anyone beyond the pass. I've never even **been** beyond the pass. Better the demon you know than the demon you don't, they say. But this demon is truly horrible. I'm scorned by everyone here. I'll never have any friends. I'll never marry. I can't remain here. I must leave..._

The rambling train of thoughts continued through her head as Lixue fell asleep, her cheek pillowed on the wolf-dog's flank.

~ * ~

In the still, early light of dawn, the door of the barn creaked slowly open. A dark, shorn head peeped out, eying the traveling sled stationed fifteen feet away. The figure belonging to the head slipped discreetly from the barn and crept carefully to the sled, stepping in footsteps previously made in the deep snow. Once there, it climbed in amongst trunks of furs and other mountain goods and covered itself with the canvas tarp covering the back half of the sled.

Earlier that morning, as Lixue was clumsily cutting her long locks of hair with her dulled scimitar, she heard voices entering the barn. She kicked hay over the shorn strands of hair and ducked behind the hay bales, leaning up into the musty squares to ensure she wasn't seen.

"Good trip this time, eh, Jamar?" said a deep, rumbling voice. "Especially that fur. We better save some of that until we get to Tortall; them nobles'll go nuts over it. Pretty crazy about the fur, those nobles are." A higher pitched male voice chuckled in response. "Has been a great trip, Lem. I don't think it's the nobles you'll be thinking to give the furs to though; methinks it's for your lady you'll be wantin' the furs." The two men chuckled again and then left the barn.

Lixue crawled from her hiding spot and gathered her hair from the ground. She'd cut it so that she could travel as a boy on this journey; she knew where she could get some breeches and a tunic, and she figured a boy would get less hassle on the road. _Tortall_, she thought as she picked stray hairs from the ground. _I don't know much about it, except that the Lady Knight who did battle with Chitral for the Dominion Jewel comes from Tortall. It's far away...but the further from the Roof, the better, I s'pose._

The girl stood, her hair clenched in her fist. Her mind was made up. Tortall it is.

~ * ~

So now, here she was; waiting nervously under the canvas, praying that the two merchants would not discover her hiding with their goods. At least, not for a while. She planned to reveal herself once they were far enough for her to find another way to travel if they wouldn't bring her along; but she planned to convince them to let her come along. Her grandfather had been an ill man; Lixue was a good cook, she could sew, build a fire, even hunt or protect herself when the need arose. She thought she could be an asset to a journey across the continent.

Just as Lixue was beginning to fall asleep, Jamar and Lem returned. She felt the larger of the two lumber into the seat of the sled as the smaller finished hooking up the horses. "Do we have everything, Jamar?" Lem asked. "Mmmhmm," Jamar murmured, patting the tarp just above Lixue's head, then securing the ends each corner with a rope. "We're set to go." He climbed up beside Lem and clicked to the horses. Slowly, the sled began to glide gently behind the team, and then to pick up speed as the horses warmed up.

As the sled began to tilt, indicating their ascension of Lumuhu pass, Lixue crept to the back of the sled and peeked out as her tiny village became smaller and smaller in the distance. _Goodbye, Grandfather_, she thought. _Wish me good luck._

Lixue glanced at the pass of Chitral and swallowed nervously. Stormclouds gathering over the mountain's tip were beginning to spill over into the peaceful valley. _Goodbye, Chitral. I will not miss you._ At the last word, wind began to sweep past the sled, and Lixue heard Jamar swear as snow began to fall. "Should we turn back?" he asked Lem. "No, we have a deadline to meet, and we're never going to get out of here if we panic at each sign of snow," Lem replied. "Let's keep going."

Snow fell harder as they moved, and Lixue risked another glance at Chitral when it faded from sight; the storm clouds seemed to be arms, reaching out to her, threatening and beseeching her to stay. She turned from the pass, and did not see it again for many, many years. 


End file.
